How to Make Dairy-Free Buttercream Frosting

If you’ve ever wondered how to make dairy-free buttercream frosting, you’re in the right place! This step-by-step tutorial will demonstrate how easy it is to make perfect dairy-free buttercream frosting every time! Plus, we share our favorite dairy-free butter brands, tips for success, and recipes to put it to good use!

Dairy-Free Buttercream Frosting vs. Buttercream Frosting

The two main differences between traditional and dairy-free buttercream frosting are:

We hope you LOVE this recipe! If you give it a try let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram so we can see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!

Instructions

Add softened vegan butter to a large mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to cream butter until light and fluffy - about 1 minute. Then add vanilla and mix once more to combine.

Add sifted powdered sugar in 1/2 cup measurements and continue mixing until well combined and fluffy, scraping down sides as needed.

If too thick, add 1 Tbsp at a time of dairy-free milk until desired consistency is achieved (optional).

Use immediately or store frosting in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer up to 1 month.

Notes

*Frosting will melt and spoil if kept at room temperature for too long. We recommend frosting immediately before enjoying or storing cupcakes in the refrigerator after decorating.*Recipe as written makes ~1 ¾ cup frosting *Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with Miyokos dairy-free butter and with lesser amounts of ingredient ranges.

Nutrition Per Serving (1 of 14 two-tablespoon servings)

Calories: 143

Fat: 6.5g

Saturated fat: 5.3g

Sodium: 39mg

Potassium: 7mg

Carbohydrates: 21.5g

Sugar: 21g

Did you make this recipe?

Hello,
My daughter has a milk protein allergy and I need to make her birthday cake, but we live in Florida so even though her birthday is November it’s going to be pretty warm. My question is have you ever used rice milk in the recipe, if so how did it turn out or do you just recommend using the canned coconut milk?

Hi, I find that if you use Kara coconut cream or any coconut cream not milk, it works so much better and more fluffier . The cream usually settles up at the top of the can or carton and you can use that and try not to stir it.

I have a question or two I’m hoping you can help with! I’ve been asked to make a birthday cake for a three year old and while I have done a lot of vegan cooking, I don’t have a ton of experience with vegan baking (or baking at all, for that matter!). I see this recipe makes about 1 3/4 cups of frosting, would that be enough to frost an 8” cake with two layers, or would you recommend doubling the recipe? I’m also trying to figure out what brand of butter to buy, I see you recommend earth balance for something that will keep its shape outside of the fridge. Would that be the earth balance baking sticks or spread, or does that even make a difference? I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but any help you can give me would be wonderful! I always feel pressure to prove that vegan food is every bit as good as the regular version and want it all to turn out right. 😊

I have replaced butters and processed oils with coconut oil with almost perfect results. I haven’t tried it yet with this recipe but I’ve been using it for about six years and it’s always been consistent. A straight across 1:1 replacement has worked in all my baking!

I loved this recipe plus my vegan friend liked it sooooooo much that she even ended up asking me where I got the amazing recipe from, so I recommended your website. She has been cooking of it 24 7 now (:
Somebody is getting popular around my neighborhood! 😁

Love all of your recipes! Can you PLEASE do a strawberry cake/cupcake recipe? I can’t find any good ones that are Vegan and/or GF.
Some use Strawberry jam, purée or freeze-dried strawberries. I’d love to see how you would choose to do it.

Just used this frosting recipe for some vegan vanilla cupcakes I made, and they were a hit! The frosting was easy to make and it was sooooo delicious! Non-vegans ate the most!! Going to make it again this weekend for a graduation party! Thanks for a great recipe!

Hi! I love your recipes!
A few questions
Any suggestions on why the frosting has a gritty/grainy texture? I am using vegan/organic powdered sugar and sifting prior.
I’ve heard some vegan bakers use vegetable shortening and butter?
Lastly, once cake/cupcakes are decorated I store in the fridge but then frosting gets hard but if I leave it out it gets soft… I am useing earth balance butter.
Thank you

I need to make cupcakes for a party. I want the buttercream to be the consistency to pipe flowers and they will need to sit out at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Any suggestions to make sure they dont melt? What do you do if cannot keep it refridgerated? Also do you have a recipe and suggestions to make a vegan royal icing to decorate cookies (pipe and flood)?
Thank you

Hi Becky, We haven’t tried that and can’t say for sure, but we think using Earth Balance would be a better choice than Miyokos for this. We would recommend using the maximum amount of powdered sugar you can without it getting clumpy. Also, it would be best to omit or reduce the dairy-free milk. We don’t have a recipe for vegan royal icing, but it’s on our ideas list. Hope that helps! Let us know if you give it a try!

Hi Noelle, In this recipe, we recommend full-fat canned coconut milk, but the carton milks should work as well since it is a small amount and is primarily used to add moisture, not flavor. Hope that helps!

We think that would work well- Earth Balance would probably be a better choice than Miyokos for this. We would recommend using the maximum amount of powdered sugar you can without it getting clumpy. Also, it would be best to omit or reduce the dairy-free milk. Hope that helps!